1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of transmit antenna diversity and in particular to a method of estimating channel coefficients in a multi carrier transmit diversity system. The invention also relates to an estimating circuit for performing channel estimation operations and to a transceiver of a wireless communication system comprising such an estimating circuit.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Peak transmission rates in wireless communication systems have steadily increased during the last years. However, peak transmission rates are still limited for example due to path loss, limited spectrum availability and fading.
Transmitter diversity is a highly effective technique for combating fading in wireless communications systems. Several different transmit diversity schemes have been proposed. In Li, Y.; Chuang, J. C.; Sollenberger, N. R.: Transmitter diversity for OFDM systems and its impact on high-rate data wireless networks, IEEE Journal on Selec. Areas, Vol. 17, No. 7, July 1999 the transmit diversity schemes of delay, permutation and space-time coding are exemplarily described. According to the delay approach, a signal is transmitted from a first transmitter antenna and signals transmitted from further transmitter antennas are delayed versions of the signal transmitted from the first transmitter antenna. In the permutation scheme, the modulated signal is transmitted from a first transmitter antenna and permutations of the modulated signal are transmitted from further transmitter antennas. Thus, the signal transmitted from the transmitter antennas can be derived from a matrix composed of data words in the form of the modulated signal and of permutations of the modulated signal. By means of space-time coding a signal is encoded into several data words and each data word is transmitted from a different transmitter antenna. During transmission the data words are spread (i.e., multiplexed) in the time domain by successively transmitting the data symbols of each data word over a single carrier frequency.
A further transmit diversity scheme for a multicarrier system is space-frequency coding. By means of space-frequency coding a signal is encoded into several data words and each data word is spread (i.e., multiplexed) in the frequency domain by transmitting the data symbols of each data word on orthogonal frequencies, i.e. orthogonal subcarriers. An exemplary scheme for space-frequency coding is described in Mudulodu, S.; Paulraj, A.: A transmit diversity scheme for frequency selective fading channels, Proc. Globecom, San Francisco, pp. 1089–1093, November 2000. According to the multicarrier system described in this paper, the data words relating to an encoded signal are preferably multiplexed in the time domain although orthogonal frequencies are available and the data words could thus also be multiplexed in the frequency domain. This is due to the fact that if multiplexing in the frequency domain was utilized the employed frequencies, i.e. subcarriers, had to see the same channel, which may not always be possible in a frequency selective fading channel. However, in case the subcarriers experience the same channel, it is stated that either multiplexing in the time domain or multiplexing in the frequency domain or a combination of the two may be used. By combining multiplexing in the time domain and in the frequency domain the data symbols of a data word are simultaneously multiplexed in the time domain and in the frequency domain. This means that the data word is spread both across time and across frequencies.
Another transmit diversity scheme is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,088,408. According to this transmit diversity scheme data are coded and transmitted as individual data blocks. Each data block comprises several data words and each data word contains data symbols derived from an input data signal. During transmission of the data blocks, the individual data words are spread in the time domain. Therefore, the transmit diversity scheme described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,088,408 can be referred to as space-time block-coding (STBC). The main features of STBC are that each data symbol is transmitted from each transmit antenna and that the antenna signals of different transmit antennas are orthogonal to each other. Orthogonal STBC data blocks can be designed for an arbitrary number of transmit antennas.
An important feature on a receiving side of a multi carrier transmit diversity system is a characterization of the individual transmit channels. Consequently, a channel estimation has to be performed as described in Li, Y.; Chuang, J. C.; Sollenberger, N. R.: Transmitter diversity for OFDM systems and its impact on high-rate data wireless networks, IEEE Journal on Selec. Areas, Vol. 17, No. 7, July 1999 and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,088,408.
Departing from the various channel estimation approaches known in the art there is a need for a more accurate method of estimating channel coefficients in a multi carrier transmit diversity system operating in accordance with a block-coding scheme. There is also a need for an estimating circuit for performing the corresponding estimating method and for a transceiver comprising such an estimating circuit.